Joe Morgan (baseball manager)

Joseph Michael Morgan (born November 19, 1930) is an American former infielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB).

A native and lifelong resident of Walpole, Massachusetts, Morgan graduated from Walpole High School and attended Boston College, where he played varsity hockey—he was a center who led the Eagles in points as a junior—as well as baseball. Morgan was also elected as team captain for Boston College's baseball team during his junior year. He signed his first professional baseball contract on June 20, 1952, with his then-hometown National League team, the Boston Braves.

Morgan stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg) during his active career. When he made Major League Baseball at age 28 in 1959, after military service and a stint in the minor leagues, his parent team had become the Milwaukee Braves.

A left-handed-hitting second baseman, third baseman and outfielder, Morgan batted over the .300 mark three times in the high minors between 1956 and 1959. He could not, however, crack the Braves' lineup, nor those of the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals. In parts of four Major League seasons, he appeared in 88 games, collected 36 hits, and batted .193. His two MLB home runs came during his stint with the 1960 Indians within a two-week period, as he hit solo shots off Chuck Estrada August 30 and Ted Sadowski on September 10. In the latter contest, Morgan's three hits and two runs scored helped the Indians to a 5–4 victory over the Washington Senators.

In 13 seasons in the minor leagues, Morgan had 1,353 hits (with 117 home runs) and compiled a lifetime batting mark of .278. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Triple-A International League in 1964 after batting .290 with 16 home runs for the Jacksonville Suns.

In 1966, Morgan became a manager in the farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates, rising in 1970 to Triple-A with the Columbus Jets of the International League. In 1971, he moved with the Jets to Charleston, West Virginia, and became skipper of the Charleston Charlies.

Morgan was called to the Major Leagues to serve as a Pittsburgh coach under Bill Virdon in 1972, when the Pirates won the National League East Division title but fell in the 1972 NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds. Morgan then returned to the minors as the Pirates' Triple-A manager. In 1973, his Charlies won 85 games and the division title, but lost in the International League playoffs to the Pawtucket Red Sox in five games. Nevertheless, Morgan was selected Minor League Manager of the Year for 1973 by The Sporting News.

Morgan joined the Boston Red Sox organization the following season. He led the PawSox—located 24 miles (38 km) from his Walpole hometown—for nine years (1974–82), the longest-tenured manager in the franchise's history. Morgan won 601 games, losing 658 (.477) and was the Pawtucket skipper during its famous 33-inning game against Rochester in 1981, though he was ejected in the 22nd. He won the International League Manager of the Year Award in 1977.